WAM Sharjah, May 31st, 2012 (WAM) -- The general assembly of the Arab institute of Operations and Maintenance has elected Sharjah Research Academy (SRA) as its Governing Board member in its last meeting of the general assembly in Beirut.

The board is composed of 12 members and SRA was the first research institute and organization in the Arabic region to be elected as a member in OMAINTEC for its activities in facility maintenance.

There are more than 2000 professional members in Omaintec from all the Arabic countries that participate in its activities and contribute to its workshops, consultations and conferences in the field of maintenance of structural buildings, bridges and operational works.

Omaintec was established in Beirut in 2002 where its main office is located in Beirut with a liaison office in Saudi Arabia. It aims at presenting its members with the most modern engineering innovations and research in the field of maintenance management which effectively contributes to the richness of the sector and leads to sharing expertise between the specialists, engineers and the community. It cooperates and liaisons closely with the World Maintenance Forum, League of Arab States, King Saud University, University of Toronto, Saudi vocational Training Cooperation and Military Works Department and numerous other establishment.

Dr. Amr Abdul Hamid, special advisor to His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah for Higher education and scientific research stated that SRA was established as an initiative and innovation of H. H. Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah who believes in the massive resources available to academia which are to be utilized for the support of the missions and goals of the public and private sectors.

He praised His Highness' emphasis on the conservation and preservation of the heritage wealth and construction stock in Sharjah and UAE. This is why SRA in the last few years took active part in research, studies and workshops related to maintenance of bridges, marine structures, buildings and heritage related projects.

Dr. Mufid Samarai, senior advisor at SRA and Board member of Omaintec emphasized the importance of maintenance and preservation of the massive construction capital in the region. He elaborated that maintenance of buildings has consistently been treated as the poorest relation of the construction industry, attracting only a tacit recognition of its importance both within the industry and amongst building owners. However, recently the importance of maintenance of structures has taken strong strides towards recognition of its importance by the public and among construction decision makers.

Samarai also stressed that the ability to design and build structures that last 100 years or more instead of 20-30 years will in the long run increase the resources productivity by many folds and preserve the architectural and environmental assets. European Code puts the indicative design working life of Buildings and other common structures to 50 years and Bridges, Government and Monumental buildings and civil engineering s structures to 100 years. It is a well-known fact that the life span of these buildings and structures could double or even triple with proper maintainability plan and preventive maintenance policy.

Samarai also accentuated the extensive research carried by SRA on Monitoring of Multi-level Buildings, Towers and Bridges. By 2020 six of the tallest ten buildings in the world are going to be in the Gulf region. UAE is perhaps one of the top countries in terms of number of towers and multi-level buildings per capita in the world. This puts the problem of detecting any defects, concrete erosion, pouring concrete sections or premature deterioration as a big issue and an important concern. The results of two years of research and studies on monitoring towers and multi-level buildings were communicated as a Key Speech in the 10th Omaintec conference that was held recently in Beirut. Latest technologies and innovations in tackling corrosion, temperature variations, vibrations, building and soil movement and cracks detection without the need to remove wall and ceiling finishing were fully elaborated. An actual case study with the full economic feasibility of monitoring on a long term basis was presented. The paper and the research were well received and a certificate of appreciation was given to the Academy in recognition of its outstanding efforts in this field.

WAM/ES/AM